Mobile communication devices have become increasingly common in current society for providing wireless communication services. The prevalence of these mobile communication devices is driven in part by the many functions that are now enabled on such devices. Increased processing capabilities in such devices means that mobile communication devices have evolved from being pure communication tools into sophisticated mobile multimedia centers that enable enhanced user experiences.
A fifth-generation (5G) new radio (NR) (5G-NR) wireless communication system has been widely regarded as the next wireless communication standard beyond the current third-generation (3G) communication standard, such as wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), and fourth-generation (4G) communication standard, such as long-term evolution (LTE). The 5G-NR wireless communication system is expected to provide a significantly higher data rate, improved coverage range, enhanced signaling efficiency, and reduced latency compared to wireless communication systems based on the 3G and 4G communication standards. Moreover, the 5G-NR communication system is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) based wireless system designed to operate across a wide range of radio frequency (RF) bands.
The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) in October 2014 seeking comments on several RF bands as potential RF bands for the 5G-NR communication system. The RF bands under FCC consideration include 24 GHz bands (24.25-24.45 GHz and 25.05-25.25 GHz), Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS) bands (27.5-28.35 GHz, 29.1-29.25 GHz, and 31-31.3 GHz), 39 GHz bands (38.6-40 GHz), 37/42 GHz bands (37.0-38.6 GHz and 42.0-42.5 GHz), 60 GHz bands (57-64 GHz and 64-71 GHz), and 70/80 GHz bands (71-76 GHz, 81-86 GHz, and 92-95 GHz). In this regard, a 5G-NR RF baseband and front end system may be required to operate effectively across a broad millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum.